Types Of Research 6r5y19

Types of research

• Research: a systematic approach to finding answers to questions. • Research Design: a plan for gathering data for answering specific research questions. • Statistics: the methods used on the data collected to answer the research questions at hand.

Research Design: Definition • A research design is a framework or blueprint for conducting the marketing research project. It details the procedures necessary for obtaining the information needed to structure or solve marketing research problems.

A Classification of Marketing Research Designs Research Design

Conclusive Research Design

Exploratory Research Design

Descriptive Research

Cross-Sectional Design

Single CrossSectional Design

Longitudinal Design

Multiple CrossSectional Design

Causal Research

A Comparison of Basic Research Designs Exploratory

Descriptive

Causal

Objective:

Discovery of ideas Describe market and insights characteristics or functions

Determine cause and effect relationships

Characteristics:

Flexible, versatile

Marked by the prior formulation of specific hypotheses

Manipulation of one or more independent variables

Often the front end of total research design

Preplanned and structured design

Expert surveys Pilot surveys Secondary data Qualitative research

Secondary data Surveys s Observation and other data

Methods:

Control of other mediating variables Experiments

Types of research • Exploratory research : helps investigate gain some initial insights and may pave the way further research • Conclusive research : helps investigators insights and select the appropriate course of action. • Descriptive Deals with everything that can be counted and studied. But there are always restrictions to that. Your research must have an impact to the lives of the people around you. For example, finding the most frequent disease that affects the children of a town

• Experimental

• Causal Research (If-then) – Designed to provide information on potential causeand-effect relationships. – Most practical in marketing to talk about associations or impact of one variable on another.

Differences Between Exploratory and Conclusive Research • Research Project Components: Research Purpose – Exploratory Research • General: To generate insights about a situation

– Conclusive Research • Specific: To insights and aid in selecting a course of action

Differences Between Exploratory and Conclusive Research (Cont’d) • Research Project Components: Data needs – Exploratory Research • Vague

– Conclusive Research • Clear

Differences Between Exploratory and Conclusive Research (Cont’d) • Research Project Components: Data sources – Exploratory Research • Ill-defined

– Conclusive Research • Well-defined

Differences Between Exploratory and Conclusive Research (Cont’d) • Research Project Components: Data collection form – Exploratory Research • Open-ended, rough

– Conclusive Research • Usually structured

Differences Between Exploratory and Conclusive Research (Cont’d) • Research Project Components: Sample – Exploratory Research • Relatively small; subjectively selected to maximize generalization of useful insights

– Conclusive Research • Relatively large; objectively selected to permit generalization of findings

Differences Between Exploratory and Conclusive Research (Cont’d) • Research Project Components: Data collection – Exploratory Research • Flexible; no set procedure

– Conclusive Research • Rigid; well-laid-out procedure

Differences Between Exploratory and Conclusive Research (Cont’d) • Research Project Components: Data analysis – Exploratory Research • Informal; typically non-quantitative

– Conclusive Research • Formal; typically quantitative

Differences Between Exploratory and Conclusive Research (Cont’d) • Research Project Components: Inferences/recommendations – Exploratory Research • More tentative than final

– Conclusive Research • More final than tentative

Types of Data for Exploratory Research • • • •

Key informant, Expert opinion, lead- Focus groups Secondary data Observation studies method :Involves human or mechanical observation of what people actually do or what events take place during a buying or consumption situation • Case studies : In This method in-depth examination of a unit of interest . The unit came be customer , store ,firm , market area – Intensive study of related cases or past activities – May be internal or external – Can help provide clues as to how other units or companies have dealt with similar issues

Types and Characteristics of Exploratory Studies

• Experience Surveys (a.k.a., depth interviews) – Knowledgeable people with varying points of view – Unstructured and informal interviews – Respondent free to choose issues to be discussed

• Focus Groups – – – – – –

8 to 10 people at one time Relatively homogeneous groups Multiple, heterogeneous groups Group dynamics is key Relies on general topical guide with plenty of time for interaction

Duties of a • Guide discussion • Ensure key aspects of the topic are discussed • Observe • Record

Focus Groups • 8 to 12 individuals • (a well-trained researcher) • Informal discussion about research topic Individuals Discussion

The Growing Role of Focus Groups • Goal of focus group research: learn and understand what people have to say and why. • Find out how participants feel about a product, concept, idea, organization, etc.; • How it fit into their lives; • Their emotional involvement with it

• May be conducted alone or as part of a broader project • May be use to define issues or to confirm findings from survey research.

Requirements for Focus Groups • Good group of information-rich participants – How many people? – How many groups? – Characteristics of participants

• Discussion guide and outline – Ground rules – Agenda – Guiding questions

• Qualified – Controls flow – Stimulates discussion

• Analysis and Report

Good Characteristics • Must be able to break down barriers; get subjects to open up within first 10 minutes • Must be a quick learner – – – –

Good listener Absorb content Gauge personalities Adapt quickly

• Must be in control, but not dominating (guide rather than lead) • Must appear to be neither an expert nor naive • Must be flexible to allow for free flow of discussion – Don’t concentrate too rigidly on the guide

• Keep the big picture in perspective – Know what is important – When to move on

Handling Problems in the Focus Group • Confusing Concept or Discussion Topic – Break the concept into components that are easier to understand – Use the confusion as a discussion point (ask for their interpretation, then attempt to resolve)

• Dead Subject (no discussion initiative) – Play one person off the other. – Use projective techniques • What color do you most closely associate with …. ? Why? • What animal does ______ remind you of? Why? • What type of people might use…? Why?

• Lively Subject (everyone talking, often at once) – Assert leadership role and take charge – Promise more discussion time later – Suggest that everyone wants to hear all opinions, which is easier done one at a time – Use “write-down” techniques to quiet the group down

Handling Problems in the Focus Group (cont’d) • The Talkative Member – Leverage his/her energy to you benefit – Ask the rest of the group to respond to (agree/disagree with) what the talkative member said – Call on someone else specifically when asking questions – Say, “Don’t let “Ed” do all the talking, I’d like to hear from someone else….”

• Silent – – – –

Call on them by name (“John, how do you feel about…”) Reinforce the value of their responses Do this several times in a row and they will open up voluntarily Probe their short answers for more detailed ones • “Tell me more about…” • “That is interesting, why do you feel that way/”

On-line Focus Groups • Advantages – – – – – –

No geographic barriers Lower costs Fast turnaround time Do not have to see a face-to-face Can reach hard-to-reach managers Two way interaction between and the client is possible

On-line Focus Groups • Disadvantages – Client involvement with participants is practically nonexistent – Security - who is the person on-line? – Attention to the topic - is the participant paying attention? – Role and skill of are more difficult

Depth Interviews • One-on-one interviews that probe and elicit detailed answers to questions, often using nondirective techniques to uncover hidden motivations. • Advantages – – – – – –

No group pressure Respondent is focus of attention and feels important Respondent is highly aware and active Long time period encourages revealing new information Can probe to reveal feelings and motivations Discussion is flexible and can explore tangential issues

Depth Interviews • Disadvantages – Much more expensive than focus groups – Do not get the same degree of client involvement; clients do not want to observe single interviews – Are physically exhausting for the …reduces the number of people that can be interviewed in a given time period. – s do not have other group to help obtain reactions and to stimulate discussion.

Types of Conclusive Research • Descriptive – Generates data on the composition and characteristics of a specific group such as customers, sales people, and market areas

• Experimental – Generates data to determine causal relationships

The basic steps of descriptive research... recognizing and identifying a topic to be studied





selecting an appropriate sample of participants



collecting valid and reliable data



reporting conclusions

Descriptive Research • Cross-sectional Studies – Data collected at a single period in time from a cross-sectional sample of the unit of interest that is disbanded after the data collection

• Longitudinal Studies – Repeated measurements taken over a long period of time from a group or sample of the unit that is maintained for future measurements

Types and Characteristics of Descriptive Studies • Cross-Sectional Study – Easily the most common type of research project. – Typically involves conducting a survey of a sample of population elements at one point in time. – Useful because it provides a quick snapshot of what’s going on with the variables of interest for our research problem.

• Longitudinal Study – An investigation that involves taking repeated measures over time. – Useful for conducting trend analysis, tracking changes in behavior over time (e.g., brand switching, levels of awareness, turnover) and monitoring long-term effects of marketing activities (e.g., market share, pricing effects) – True vs. omnibus

self-report survey Requires individuals to respond to a series of statements or questions about themselves

Cross-sectional Studies • Data collected at a single period in time from a cross-sectional sample of the unit of interest that is disbanded after the data collection – Conducted in a single time period – Uses a cross-sectional sample of the unit – Once the study is complete the sample is disbanded and not used again

Cross-sectional Designs • Involve the collection of information from any given sample of population elements only once. • In single cross-sectional designs, there is only one sample of respondents and information is obtained from this sample only once. • In multiple cross-sectional designs, there are two or more samples of respondents, and information from each sample is obtained only once. Often, information from different samples is obtained at different times.

Cross-Sectional Data May Not Show Change Brand Purchased

Time Period Period 1 Survey

Brand A Brand B Brand C Total

200 300 500 1000

Period 2 Survey

200 300 500 1000

Longitudinal Studies • Repeated measurements taken over a long period of time from a group or sample of the unit that is maintained for future measurements – Measurements taken during many different time periods – Measurements taken from a – A is a sample of units that is maintained for multiple measurements taken during multiple time periods

Longitudinal Data May Show Substantial Change Brand Purchased in Period 1 Brand A Brand B Brand C Total

Brand Purchased in Period 2 Brand A 100 25 75 200

Brand B 50 100 150 300

Brand C 50 175 275 500

Total 200 300 500 1000

Longitudinal Studies (Cont’d) • Types of s – OMNIBUS : different subjects are pulled from the for each time period • Drawbacks: data is not as reliable

– TRUE : the same subjects are used for the every time data is collected • Drawbacks: sometimes evolve out of the desired study group

Experimental (Cont’d) Multi-group Design All variables stay the same

Change one variable

Control Group

Experimental Group

Measure the differences.

Research Continuum Most projects fall in here, aspects of both descriptive and experimental. Purely Descriptive

Purely Experimental

Types of longitudinal surveys trend survey  cohort survey  survey  follow-up survey 

Trend survey •

A study where a sample is taken from the general population in order to collect data over time • Involves different groups and different samples over time

Cohort survey •

•

A study where a specific population is examined by sampling different groups within the population over time Involves the same group but different samples from that group over time

survey A study where the same group and the same sample are examined over time

Follow-up survey A study undertaken after a survey and seeks to examine subsequent development or change

Causal Research Designs

– Time order of occurrence • If X is supposed to cause Y, then changes in X must precede changes in Y. – Elimination of other possible causes • If X causes Y, no other factor could have reasonably caused the change in Y at that moment. • Must hold all other variables constant.

Causal Research Designs

• Examples of experimentation in marketing – Market test (test marketing) – Advertising response (recall, affect, attitude toward ad elements) – Promotional design (consumer response to promotional deals, incentives, tie-ins – Store layout and design – Product positioning – Color tracking and package design

No

Conduct exploratory research with these procedures: -Key informant technique -Focus group interviews -Secondary-data analysis -Case study method

Is the research purpose specific and are data requirements clear?

Yes

Yes Design conclusive research

Analyze data/interpret findings

No Is there a need for further research

Does the research purpose call for testing cause-and-effect relationships between variables?

Yes No Conduct a suitable descriptive-research study

Analyze data/interpret findings

Make recommendations

Conduct an appropriate experimental-research study

Selecting the Appropriate Research Type